Teaching your kids to write is an exciting milestone for most parents, but at the same time it also presents its own challenges. What you need is patience, many practice sessions, and maybe an app that can help make the whole process more exciting for everyone. What you need is Yum-Yum Letters.

From the folks at Kindermatica, Yum-Yum Letters is an app designed to give kids “a gentle introduction to handwriting.” It features an easy-to-use interface and is filled with positive encouragement, so kids will view tracing as a game.

Let’s Write

A great thing about Yum-Yum Letters is that you can customize the gameplay according to your child’s ability and preference. When you open the app for the first time, for example, you can choose the teaching method you like. The Alphabetical method presents the letters in ascending order (A-Z), whereas the Recommended method groups letters based on similarity of strokes and difficulty. So, instead of the letter A, the Recommended method starts off with E, then F, H, I, L, and so on.

The app also comes with 3 theme choices: a Halloween theme with a cute spider character, a leafy theme featuring a hungry caterpillar, and an icy theme featuring a happy snowflake. You can switch themes anytime you want and pick up where you left off — the app is smart enough to remember the last letter you traced.

The gameplay itself is simple and straightforward. With your finger, trace the letter on the screen as closely as you can. Each letter must be traced 3 times, but each subsequent attempt gradually increases the level of difficulty while decreasing the prompting. Emphasis is first given to learning the proper starting point of each letter, then staying within the lines, and finally memorizing the order and direction of all segments.

After completing a series of letters, kids will be rewarded with a mini game. The games vary depending on the theme chosen at the beginning — the icy theme, for example, will have decorating a snowflake with colorful jewels. Even then, the app gives you the freedom to play or skip the game altogether.

In addition to uppercase and lowercase letters, the app also includes pre-writing elements. These are simple strokes and shapes that kids should be able to copy before they learn to write letters of the alphabet. You can customize which set the app should present to your child by tapping on the student icon from the main screen.

You can also turn on Easy mode, which will use maximum prompts for all 3 attempts at writing a letter. This mode is especially useful if you have kids who are only beginning to write and kids with special needs.

To access the entire settings panel, tap the Parents icon on the top left of the main screen then solve a math problem to bypass the kid-lock. This section also contains FAQs and a quick link to contact support.

Yum-Yum Letters contains no third-party advertising, no external links, and no in-app purchases. Links to the developer’s other apps are present but protected with a kid-lock. The app is usable without an Internet connection.

You can customize the app's theme and gameplay, including what font to use, which letter case to present, and the order of letters

Things I Like

Whether you use the app at home or in a classroom setting, Yum-Yum Letters can support any child’s learning thanks to its flexible gameplay. In addition, you can monitor each child’s progress from the in-app report that tracks the status of each letter and number of tries and mistakes. The app is also able to use this data to reorder letters for additional practice.

A wonderful thing about the gameplay is that it’s encouraging and friendly, even for beginners. Mistakes are not punished, but attempts are always rewarded. This minimizes frustration and motivates kids to put in their best efforts.

Finally, I appreciate the ability to individually toggle off the background music, sound effects, and voiceover. There’s nothing wrong with them — the music is upbeat and fitting for the app — but it’s a great option to have.

After completing a series of exercises, kids can play thematic mini games as a reward

Conclusion

Yum-Yum Letters offers a flexible gameplay that can be customized to your child’s ability and preference. You can select the order of letters and font to use, and get progress reports for each user profile. The app also offers 3 fun themes and complementary mini games to reinforce learning and build motivation. All in all, this is an excellent app for any child who is learning to write the alphabet.

About Kindermatica

Kindermatica creates educational and entertaining applications for kids as they believe that new generation touch screen devices are more than a mobile game platform. It is the perfect means to educate and engage little creatures in a totally new interactive way.

You should check out their other apps:

Yum-Yum Numbers takes the cheerful and smart gameplay from Yum-Yum Letters and applies it to writing numbers. This cute app supports up to 30 player profiles, each with their own custom settings and progress reports. It’s a great app to have if your child has already mastered writing their ABCs.

You can get Yum-Yum Letters and Yum-Yum Numbers for a reduced price when you buy them as an app bundle. Get the bundle from the App Store.

Kindermatica’s fantastic board game series gets a solid addition in We Discover Wildlife: Forest Quest. Sporting the same, engaging gameplay as its predecessor and photorealistic visuals, this educational trek through the forest will appeal to players of all ages. I highly recommend this pass-and-play board game for family game time, road trips, and even classroom settings.